|
The deal was
reached in talks between the U.S. Attorney's Office for the San
Francisco Bay area and the Oakland-based Harborside Health
Center, and it is expected to be filed in court in a matter of
days, said Henry Wykowski, an attorney for Harborside.
U.S. attorney spokesman Abraham Simmons said his office was not
at liberty to comment on the "pending litigation."
Attorneys for Harborside said they believed the settlement
signaled an end to a federal crackdown against cannabis
dispensaries in states where marijuana has been legalized for
medical use, contrary to U.S. law.
They said more than 600 medical pot dispensaries have been
shuttered in California alone through civil forfeiture
proceedings brought by the U.S. government.
Harborside runs two dispensaries across the bay from San
Francisco - its flagship facility in Oakland to the east and a
smaller clinic in San Jose at the southern end of the bay.
Federal prosecutors brought civil forfeiture actions in 2012
against both properties, but the dispensaries have remained open
pending appeal.
The city of Oakland intervened with a lawsuit challenging the
forfeiture actions, but that suit was thrown out last August by
the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court
refused to hear the case.
Harborside, which has been featured on the Discovery Channel's
reality TV show "Weed Wars," bills its Oakland outlet as the
world's biggest medical marijuana dispensary. It ranks as the
largest in the United States by sales, posting about $30 million
in receipts annually.
Under terms of the settlement, Wykowski said, each side in the
court fight has agreed to bear its own attorneys' fees.
Although marijuana remains classified as an illegal narcotic
under U.S. law, cannabis has been legalized for medical use in
23 states since California became the first to do so in 1996.
Voters in four states - Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska
- plus the District of Columbia have gone further by legalizing
pot as a recreational drug for adults. Advocates have pushed for
similar referendums this year in a half-dozen other states,
including Massachusetts and California.
(Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in LOS
ANGELES; Editing by Tom Hogue)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
